Dustin Brown had a goal and an assist Sunday night as the Kings continued to steamroll through the NHL playoffs, defeating Phoenix 4-2 in the opener of the Western Conference final.

Kings winger Dwight King, centre, celebrates his second-period goal with teammate Mike Richards (10) during Game 1 of the Western Conference final Sunday night.

By:Kevin McGranSports Reporter, Published on Mon May 14 2012

GLENDALE, ARIZ.—If the playoffs are a time for leaders to show their true character, then Los Angeles Kings captain Dustin Brown is emerging as a force.

Brown had a goal and an assist Sunday night as the eighth-seeded Kings continued to steamroll through the NHL playoffs, picking up a 4-2 win over the Phoenix Coyotes Sunday night in the opening game of the Western Conference final.

Brown scored the winner over St. Louis a week ago to clinch a berth in the final four and was working his magic again, getting the go-ahead goal to break a 2-2 tie early in the third period and picking up an assist to lead Los Angeles with 13 points.

“The playoffs has been something for him, he’s taken the next step,” Kings coach Darryl Sutter said of Brown. “Right now, he’s a playoff-type player because of the way you have to play in the playoffs, the intensity, the controlled emotion.”

Brown took a beautiful pass from Kings defenceman Slava Voynov to set up a breakaway. Brown’s wrist shot beat Coyotes goalie Mike Smith, who was by far the busiest of the two netminders.

Smith faced 47 shots. L.A.’s Jonathan Quick — who gave up a clunker from centre ice to Derek Morris in the first period — faced 27.

“We got a rare bad goal against us,” said Sutter. “I don’t think it rattled him (Quick) at all. Our team was resilient enough to battle through it.”

Quick called it “a lucky bounce.”

“Things happen,” he said. “This one is overwith. We’ll focus on Game 2 now.”

It’s the first time Phoenix has trailed in a series this playoffs. The Kings are a remarkable 9-1 in the post-season.

This is a battle between two teams few picked to get this far. Being in the conference finals is heady stuff for both franchises. The Kings haven’t been this far since 1993, when Wayne Gretzky starred in L.A. The Coyotes have never been this far.

“You’re looking at both us and Phoenix as a surprise in the post-season,” said Quick. “We won Game 1 in each of the first two rounds. They know how important it is. So do we. It means nothing if you don’t win Game 2.”

The game unfolded according to the template the Coyotes have used to much success: Get outplayed, get outshot, rely on Smith to stand on his head and score a few timely goals. They were outshot 39-20 in Game 6 vs. Chicago and won 4-0. They were outshot 42-24 in Game 1 vs. Nashville and won 4-3.

“I felt our execution was poor,” said Coyotes coach Dave Tippett. “The execution and will to get things done is going to have to change greatly if we’re going to have a chance in this series.”

The Kings stuck with their template: Pass, shoot, hit and swarm the net like bees on honey.

“I don’t think that we’ve gotten away from our game for three or four months, so I can’t imagine it should change now,” Sutter said before the game. “I think the familiarity with being in the division is important, too.

“Most of these guys have played against each other a lot. I think they know how both sides are going to play. The coaching staff, that’s what we expect out of our group, for sure.”

Dwight King scored two goals — including an empty-netter with 48 seconds to go — and Anze Kopitar had the other for Los Angeles.

Mikkel Boedker also scored for Phoenix.

A giant flying taco, a little “who let the dogs out” and a massive white-out and they were ready to drop the puck at the Jobing.com arena on the Western Conference final.

Sometimes fans can get their team up. Sometimes nerves get the better of the players. The Coyotes fell victim to the latter as the Kings dominated play in the first period, not that it mattered by the end of the first with the scored tied 1-1 due to a rather unusual goal.

Kopitar opened the scoring at 3:53 with a nice backhand past Smith. The Kings swarmed the Coyotes, who didn’t get a shot on Quick until about seven minutes in. That was only a long shot, more a clearing attempt from the Coyotes’ end to relieve the pressure.

But long shots are exactly what the Coyotes are, and that’s what worked against Quick.

Morris blasted a shot from centre ice that fooled Quick. It looked as though the L.A. goalie thought it was a dump-in toward the corner and cheated that way. Morris sold it, but blasted toward the net and tied the game at 13:26.

The second period — which ended 2-2 — was much the same, with the Kings dominating play and Phoenix getting a timely goal.

Richards and King went in on a 2-on-1 with Richards taking the first shot, Smith giving up a juicy rebound and King pounding it home.

But toward the end of the period, the Kings seemed to tire. Phoenix picked it up and a bang-bang play between Vermette and Boedker seemed to catch the Kings napping as the Coyotes tied the game heading into the third period.

NOTES: It was the first meeting of the two Pacific Division rivals since Feb. 21. . . . The Coyotes posted a regular-season record of 3-2-1 against L.A. Three of the six games went into OT or a shootout. . . . Coming into the game, Phoenix’s roster featured 23 players with 756 games of Stanley Cup Playoff experience. . . . Ray Whitney leads the team with 98 career post-season games. . . . Phoenix dressed D David Schlemko in place of Adrian Aucoin, who left the clincher against Nashville with an undisclosed injury and didn’t skate again until Saturday.

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